Dieter Trautwein

After the end of his term as provost, Trautwein became the chairman and manager of the Frankfurter Bibelgesellschaft. He played a leading role in the planning and construction of the Bibelmuseum which opened after his death in 2003 on the Museumsufer.

Trautwein received numerous rewards and distinctions for his work, most notably receiving honours from the civic government of Frankfort and being the first Protestant to receive Bartholomäus-Medaille bestowed by the Catholic Church in Frankfurt in 1988, receiving the Bundesverdienstkreuz in 1989 and in 1990 receiving the Hedwig-Burgheim-Medaille from the city of Gießen for his work in promoting service, tolerance and understanding between people.

He was for a long time a member of the presidum of the Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag and chairman of the worship committee of the 6th Conference of the World Council of Churches in Vancouver in 1983. During his time as provost two Kirchentage took place in Frankfort (in 1975 and 1987), which he worked tirelessly to organize. He was known throughout the ecumenical movement as a vocal critic of apartheid in South Africa, accompanied by his wife Ursula.

Born in Holzhausen am Hünstein (today Dautphetal), Trautwein studied theology in Marburg, Mainz and Heidelberg. After several postings as a vicar in Königstein, Limburg and Bad Nauheim, he served from 1963 to 1970 in positions involving him with the training of new ministers in Frankfurt am Main. In 1969 the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau appointed him as provost for Frankfurt. He would continue in this position until 1988. He received his Doctorate of Theology in 1971 from the University of Tübingen with a dissertation dealing with the changing form of worship.

Dieter Trautwein (30 July 1928 – 9 November 2002) was a German Protestant theologian and writer of numerous Christian hymns of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied (NGL).